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i really think bad drivers is your biggest problem. but they are primarily not the ones driving too fast. they are more likely to drive too slow. i guess the focus should be on removing the people responsible for accidents from the road. so when an accident happens, you need to really find the guilty part and take their license fast. also, any dui should result in permanent license removal.
New devices that reduce the danger and impact of these practices will help. Existing and new law enforcement and education are needed too.
The new devices aid the lazy drivers not the stupid drivers. The lazy ones are the inattentive ones. The stupid ones are the " I don't care about anyone else, my car is the center of the universe and I'll what I want" drivers. They are the ones who use exit lanes as passing lanes, fly across 4-5 lanes to get through traffic (and actualy don't really get anywhere), come to a full stop in the left lane in order to get off the exit they just missed three lanes over. Many of us see this, and more, on a daily basis. Maybe its time to add common sense to drivers education. Maybe its time to teach how to share the road instead of how to use the road. The Police spend too much time ticketing speeders. Its time they go after the reckless ones (doubt if they will since dollars from speeders trumps safety). The types of accidents I've seen have changed dramitacally to be one car accidents caused by the stupid ones with some ripple accidents further back caused by the inattentice ones.
Allow trucks in the passing lane to prevent tailgating trucks in the travel lane.
Interstates had been designed to get our armed forces cross country in a time when the state was quite rural. Many NJ interstates have now morphed in 'local roads' and have left their original design in the fog of time. Now, as on the 287 southern end there are exits and entrances every couple miles which make driving patterns and manners developed on interstate 91 or western parts of interstate 80 in PA, etc, so out of place here.
Yield has no meaning here. Yield on rt 91 in VT means the car pulls over into the travel lane from the slow lane to allow a driver to 'merge'. The same courtsey doesn't work here in endless traffic.
Yield signs also result in a lot of accidents when the 2nd car look down the road and figures the 1st car felt it was safe to go but then stopped. Boom rearend on the entrance ramp.
Some entrance ramps onto local roads are so curved like the entrance to 514 east from 287S in Edison, the driver can't easily see the oncoming traffic to merge.
Low spots on 287 in the fast lane collect water and cause hyrdoplaning accidents.
50mph traffic signs on an interstate 'under construction' and no construction is seen, train drivers to ignore speed limit signs. Try doing 50 on 287 south end or rt 84 thru Hartford CT.
Excessive speed mingled with posted speed limit or less actually being driven mitigates a driver's judgement when changing lanes. Never planned on the guy closing in at 87mph. Gauged my move for a car doing 65 or 70. Oops!
I have proposed painting 16" flourescent circles where evre an accident occurs. Got the idea from looking a map with colored pins marking accident locations on the local police station map.
Imagine driving thru a strange area and seeing a group of painted 'dots'. It would instantly inform drivers of a high accident area. Politicians don't like it because it reveals dangerous areas they have not addressed. Police would have a spray can and a stencil they would spray on the road where the accident occurred. Type of paint would of course require a study. One authority mentioned the concern for a painted surface being the cause of potential skids. Still this method delivers relevant information exactly when needed and saves education programs and rules drivers ignore....like effectively using blinkers. Still pushing this idea. place stencil on middle line or side of road, wherever it passes EPA of TSA approval.
Another biggy is when cars or trucks pull over on the shoulder with their tail light or blinkers on. Drunks and drivers falling asleep tend to barely hang on by watching the car in front of them. The tail lights become a lighthouse and becon to closely follow until they crash and die.
Snowstorms or heavy rain where the white lines disappear are perfect for drivers to crash into the rear end of shouldered cars with flashers or tail lights on. Cops pull over drivers and we have all seen drunks drive up the cop car's butt. Sleepy drivers crashing into shouldered trucks are legendary on 287 and 78 locally.
Reflective strip to mark lanes work well in citified areas when the white disappear during heavy rain, fog or snow at night.
Make people aware of the mile markers and tenth of a mile markers to reference in emmergencies.
Stop references traffic problems, ending lanes, road work in terms of feet! Not everyone deals in 300, 1,300, 450, 600 foot increments, lumber yards or surveying. Meaningless to most drivers.
At least use 'yards' as were talking football fields. Not much better but infinitely better than describing distances to a speeding car in terms of feet.
Another suggestion, not only make initial drivers test more technical/harder but also a defensive driving course that can be taken every 5 years. Give big insurance breaks for people who regularly take and pass these advanced driving courses. Make it optional, charge a fee, but also make the ins discount worth it.
While I would LOVE to see better paved roads with wider more clearly defined lanes with highly reflective paint, clear shoulders, better signage more often...all of these things cost MEGA$$$. It would be nice to have over time but schools, property taxes, & corruption are all higher priority.
The biggest problem "I" see (which there is no solution for) is that there are simply too many people, too many cars, too many roads in a such a very densely populated tiny state. Adding mass transit options would definitely help, but it would be so massive and so complex it might just add to the problem instead of solve it. It is rare these days in this state that people work close to where they live.
i had some lady to the left of me yesterday that needed to go into the lane to the right of me. she was a slow driver, but slightly ahead of me. so without hesitation there she goes right in front of me without a care in the world. she cared a lot more when i went to the right, sped up and blocked her from getting in the lane.
Increase penalty for excessive speeding 10-20 over fine, 20+over double fine.
Enforce tailgating laws.
Enforce hand held talking and texting laws.
Drunk driving $1,000 fine 2nd time $2,000 fine. 3rd time $4,000, etc.etc. Hit them in the pocket book, makes no sense in taking license away since they will drive anyway.
We already have the laws, just need to enforce them and that is the education drivers will get.
i would just add to this to enforce non blinkers and right side passers.
Does that car come with blinkers? a constant refrain on 287.
However, proper use of blinkers is also a biggie. One blink over the line allows a driver to say they used their blinker. As does crossing over and simultaneously using the blinker. Apparently a blinker is a sign of weakness.
Fast lane drivers that get out of the way of a lawbreaker speeding in the fast lane to endanger me by suddenly cutting in front of me leaving only a car length or two bewtween us.
Love dragging the tailgating cellphone users in the travel lane, henceforth known as the cell phone lane. They keep the car in front in their periphery and draft the bumper on an empty road. When tailgated on an empty highway it used to mean you were being stalked.
Accidents are caused by an individual driver not driving safely. Certain roads have design problems and they should be fixed but freeways are usually safe.
Heavy traffic raises the possibility of an accident occurring.
FYI, in NJ, passing on the right is allowed on any roadway where there are 2 or more lanes as long as someone doesn't move to the right lane for the express purpose of passing. If they are already IN the right lane, they are allowed to pass if you are travelling slower than they and neither of you are exceeding the speed limit. Also, if the person in the left lane is slowing or stopped to make a left turn.
The new devices aid the lazy drivers not the stupid drivers. The lazy ones are the inattentive ones. The stupid ones are the " I don't care about anyone else, my car is the center of the universe and I'll what I want" drivers. They are the ones who use exit lanes as passing lanes, fly across 4-5 lanes to get through traffic (and actualy don't really get anywhere), come to a full stop in the left lane in order to get off the exit they just missed three lanes over. Many of us see this, and more, on a daily basis. Maybe its time to add common sense to drivers education. Maybe its time to teach how to share the road instead of how to use the road. The Police spend too much time ticketing speeders. Its time they go after the reckless ones (doubt if they will since dollars from speeders trumps safety). The types of accidents I've seen have changed dramitacally to be one car accidents caused by the stupid ones with some ripple accidents further back caused by the inattentice ones.
yeah, i agree. but helping the lazy drivers is a start! haha. you can't fix stupid. but i agree, they should ticket reckless drivers like crazy. the lane jockeying that i see on the different interstates drives me crazy.
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